David Wagner became the fourth Premier League manager to depart the scene this season after leaving his post at Huddersfield Town last week.
Wagner joined Slavisa Jokanovic, Mark Hughes, and Jose Mourinho in the job centre, although the other three gaffers suffered the ignominy of the sack, instead of walking away on their own accord.
We’ve now ventured into that tricky time of the season when clubs decide whether to make a change in the dugout in a bid to either boost their chances of survival, swat away the Christmas cobwebs, or simply seek an upturn in fortunes following a poor sequence of results.
It’s difficult to envision going from now until May without another manager being gobbled up by the Sack Race, and on current evidence Claude Puel could well be its next victim.
The Frenchman has lost each of his last three games at the helm of the Foxes, which hasn’t helped his cause. There was the humiliating defeat to Newport County, followed by a loss to the 10-man Saints, while the club then leaked in four goals in a thrilling 4-3 reverse at Wolves, although in fairness at least they showed fight to get back into the game on two different occasions.
However, the old cliche of ‘it’s a results business’ springs to mind in this very scenario, and with Leicester losing seven of their last 10 games, a fourth successive defeat to leaders Liverpool next weekend means Puel could be toast.
One manager to keep an eye on is Chelsea gaffer Maurizio Sarri. The Blues boss enjoyed a superb start to life at Stamford Bridge, going unbeaten in his opening 12 Premier League games, a record.
However, cracks could well be starting to show following four losses in Chelsea's subsequent 11 top-flight fixtures, including last weekend’s 2-0 defeat at top-four rivals Arsenal, a result which saw Sarri hammer his players...
"I have to say, I'm extremely angry. Very angry indeed.
"This defeat was due to our mentality, more than anything else. This is something I can't accept.
"This group of players are extremely difficult to motivate."
Wow, strong words. It appears unlikely that Sarri will be sacked anytime soon, but it’s worth noting that one bookmaker has slashed his odds from 50/1 to 10/1 to be the next gaffer to go, while three of the last four permanent Chelsea managers have been axed between the period November and March.
Yesterday marked a year to the day that Watford axed Marco Silva. The Portuguese coach would return to the dugout with Everton last summer, but after a decent patch of form between September and November, the Toffees appear to have become unstuck.
Silva's underperforming troops have slumped out of the top-10 after a worrying run of two wins from 10 games, six of which they’ve lost including three of the last four.
Everton are determined to not be known as a ‘sacking club’ but Silva is their fourth boss in just over a year - including caretaker David Unsworth - and rotten results from their upcoming fixtures against Huddersfield, Wolves, and his former club Watford, could leave Silva in big trouble.
Life is rarely dull up in Newcastle, and we couldn’t possibly end this article without a mention of Rafa Benitez who could well decide enough is enough should he not be handed funds this transfer window.
